The trip started on Friday when I drove a rental car from Pori to Turku. I
stopped at Juha Makkonen's place and found that Raimo Vuorensivu was already
there ready to hit the road. Anyway, we climbed up to the sixth floor and drank
some coffee & tea and made final plans for the trip. During that time I
snapped a shot of our ride to Sweden. At the top you can see Juha's
'70 Rebel SST 4D Sedan (slight custom) powered by 304cid V8. It's a cool
ride, and even if I was disappointed that my Hornet wasn't ready yet (brake
problems) it felt good to know that we'd be taking the trip 'in style'.

The plans were ready soon, we packed up the car and soon we were ready to go.
Here's Juha taking out an AMCCF T-shirt to wear for the trip. He almost misplaced
it in the trunk! =) Before we left we met up with Kari Kokkola and his lovely
wife. They drove Kari's '71 Javelin AMX 401 from Helsinki to Turku.

Ten minutes later we were in the Port of Turku (Port Arthur IIRC) all ready
to board the ship. We were there early, but still there were around 50 cars
in front of us so we took our place in the lineup. You can propably guess how
much attention these two very cool cars received from the other people in the
same lineup... Here's another
shot from the rear.

We took the cheapest ride across the Gulf of Bothnia (from Turku -> Stockholm)
which was Seawind Lines. It was a decent ship and quite comfortable, but quite
crappy compared to the major sealiners (Silja & Viking). Nonetheless it
was cheap, on time and just what we needed. Upon arrival in Stockholm we took
the straightest route out of the city and in 15 minutes we were on the countryside
driving west towards Göteborg (Arboga is about half way there).

We made the first stop after about an hour and it was just to fill up our tanks
with the (cheaper) Swedish gasoline. Here's a picture of Juha, Kari and Raimo
beside the Javelin AMX wondering what the gas price is in FiM (our currency).
Here's another pic from the
Statoil station with our ride. After taking gas we continued the drive towards
Arboga taking for the E18 and then the E20. After around 2 hours we arrived
at Arboga, the dride there was so easy we could have made it with our eyes closed
=). But at Arboga we ran into the first problem.

We drove towards the centrum, but couldn't find any signs pointing us to Herrfallet
Leisure Center. So we drove around for a while and possibly becouse of the massive
amounts of road-construction in the city it took a few U-turns to find our way.
In the picture above you can see how a U-turn is made with a Javelin AMX...

And in this picture you can see Juha's satisfied face when we found another
dead-end street. Hopefully they'll have the roads ready next summer!

But at last, after another 2 hours of searching (we did stop at a few shops
and interesting places along the way of course) we're finally in Herrfallet.
Basically it was easy to quite easy to find, after we found the 'Centrum Information'
shop in Arboga. Above you can see a picture of our cars in front of the cabin.
Herrfallet offers two kinds of cabins for rent. They have very small and very
cheap smaller cabins by the camping site, and then they have the comfortable
and cozy accommodation in modern cottages. There should be no question which
one we chose. =) Our cottage was pretty decently equipped with electric heating,
refrigerator, WC, TV, and shower. But no Coffeemachine, microwave, toilet paper
or the other stuff we're used to seeing in Finnish cottages. Also a funny thing
was that the ones who stay at the cottage are required to clean up the cottage
when they leave, I guess there aren't enough people in Sweden to hire up someone
to do this after the guests or something.. =) Anyway, our cottage had three
bedrooms with a total of six beds so there were couple beds extra and in general
the cottage was very roomy and comfortable. If you're traveling in a tight budget
Herrfallet also has a good camping site, but the cabins weren't that expensive
and plus the view from the patio
was simply wonderful so I went out and took a couple pictures for my album.
Around this time we realized that we were propably the first AMCers there. Kinda
interesting. Nobody on the site knew anything about an AMC meet, not even the
people in the Reception... But, it had to be the right place so we settled down.

At least some of us did, when I got back from my little walk I found that Juha
and Kari had found other stuff to do. They had already started to wonder (as
us car hobbyists often do) what the Javelins wheels/tires would look under the
Rebel and vice-versa and without fantasizing about it longer hitched up the
rears of the cars and they were trading wheels.

As you see Juha was having fun, and so was Kari, I guess both of the cars had
worked too nicely on the trip so they just had to find something to work on
them. =) Well the wheels did look nice on both cars, but no exchange was made.
=) From the above picture in the open trunk you can propably make out another
thing that was opened quite soon after arrival. In good spirits we waited around
to see if any other AMCs were showing up.

In the afternoon we had some tea, prepared by Kari's wife Laura and we were
ready for the event to begin. After the meal we heard a distant rumble of a
V8 engine and a slight high-buzzing sound and after a few seconds we were outside
to see what it was, and by the time that everyone was outside, it was clear
that we were in the right place.

Talk about a COOL CAR. This Red-White-Blue '69 Javelin SST is armed with a
360cid and a TF-727, and as if that wasn't enough the owner installed an aftermarket
blower on the V8. You can propably imagine the excitement that was in the air
when we saw the first Swedish AMC drive to a cabin, and see this. I think we
almost scared the owner to
thinking that we were quite mad with praising his wickedly beautiful machine.

The car looked just as good from the rear, though according to the owner it
was still unfinished, missing most crome parts, etc. Here's
a picture of the interior, I took it even if the owner said he hadn't gotten
around working on it yet.

But the engineroom was almost ready. And wow. WOW. Take a look!
I cannot remember what the make/model of the blower was, but a friend of mine
said it looks like a Weiand. I'll check that later on. One interesting thing
that Kari pointed out were the AMC Freeflows in the car... This was one of the
last strokes that made me trash the headers and go for the freeflows. If they're
enough for THIS engine, they're enough for my 304. And those two carbs on the
top, they just ready for action and the extatic wizzing/high buzzing sound the
blower made just froze my blood. I want one of these.. =) The manifold that
sits under the blower was self-made or so I understood. Here's
a closer pic of it and here's
one even closer. Hopefully I'll get more pics next year!

Around 15 minutes later more cars started showing up, and the next one I captured
on camera was a '70 Gremlin equipped with a 232cid. A very nice, good looking
car. I was particularly interested, becouse I had never seen an intact Gremlin
(just a few projects) and there are only 2 of them in Finland. The car is very,
very close to a Hornet, but then again... Here's
another pic from the front.

The next car that showed up was this very classy looking '65
Classic owned by Steven Bosdijk from the Netherlands. Yes, they came from
even farther than us, and the owner was riding with a fellow from Croatia. Later
on the won both of the long-distance awards. The car first appeared to be a
typical good condition '65 Classic, but guess again. It's actually a 'Renault
Rambler', meaning it was assambled
by the Renault plant at Vilvoorde in Belgium. If this didn't make the car
rare and quite interesting, there was more.

Looking at the engine a sharp eyed AMCer should see something out of place.
Guessed it? Yes it's the compressor-type-apparatus on the passanger side of
the engine in the front. Any guesses? Let's take a look in the trunk next.

And this is what we found in the trunk. A replacement tank? No, the original
tank works just fine, this is here for natural gas. Huh? Yes the car runs on
normal gasoline but it's converted some time back to run also on gas which is
widely supplied at gasoline stations in Central-Europe particularly in Holland/Netherlands.
Quite cool indeed. For more info on the car check out AMCCF Links page for Steven's
homepages.

More and more cars started showing up and since all of them were going to be
parked in the showfield tomorrow, I gave my camera a small rest (i was running
out of film) and took few last shots. In the above picture you can see us taking
a ride on a Swedish (ex-Finnish) '66 Marlin to the Reception for the keys to
the Sauna. There was no 'all-amcers-welcome' sauna at the Herrfallet, so we
had to rent it by ourselves. I guess the Swedish aren't big fans of the Finnish
invention or something.. =) Maybe next year? The Marlin in the picture turned
out to be an ex-Finnish car, and Raimo Vuorensivu got very, very interested
in it, as you can see from his look standing by the car... Later on, he ended
up buying the car and drove it back to Finland next weekend, but that's another
story.

After the Sauna, there was still light for one photo, and here it is. a '71
Javelin 232cid with a '71 Hornet 343cid, not the usual match-up on either one,
but very interesting. The Hornet was quite a project during this time, but very
drivable (and fast as we found out later on) and the Javelin had a very '80s
flake paintjob that none of us had seen for a long time. All together a nice
pair. We got to know the family Almkrona better later on, as we drove to their
place on the way back to Stockholm to buy some Hornet parts that I needed for
my car (I finally found the brake booster and some other long waited parts!!!!).
During the late evening Markku Lehto, another Finnish AMCer showed up with his
'67 Rebel Cross-Country (bought 2 weeks before from Raimo Vuorensivu). It was
late and they had had some problems on the way, and basically the family was
a bit tired and we got around to talking with them the next day. A very nice
suprise anyhow.

As the night was approaching we were very anxious to go cruising (above pic by
Johan Lindersson) and tried to gather a few cars to hit the street with us, but
no-one seemed to know that the best time for a mid-night cruise is mid-night and
so we hit the streets of Arboga by ourselves. We found one chevy cruising around
and about 4 police cars but that was it, not much action at night it seems.

So as the night was wearing short, and we took to our beds and in the morning
I got up and took the above picture with a fresh roll of film bought from a
SARS member (they didn't sell any filmrolls in Herrfallet!). Basically the morning
was a success, AMCs where-ever we looked.

And here are our neighbors from the camping grounds, didn't really get the
time to sit down and talk to them (will do that next year), but I just wish
my neighbors here in Finland had this kind of cars on their yard... <grin>

This pair came from Norway (picture by J.Lindersson). Both Matadors, but nothing
alike each other. The '75 Matador Coupe was equipped with a 360cid engine and
it was very original and in good shape, while the '72 Matador Wagon was equipped
with a six-cyl (IIRC) and it was a daily-driver. It was nice to find out that
Norway has an active AMC club as well! Here's
a pic of the third Norwegian Rambler, a Rogue captured here by J. Lindersson.

Soon after waking up, we ate breakfast and wondered around the camping site
for a while in the very warm weather. All dressed in AMCCF t-shirts it was easy
for most people to pick us out as Finnish AMCers =) The welcome was quite friendly.
There was also another pleasant
suprise when Pasi Riikonen, an AMCCF member showed up by suprise during
the day. Had a good talk and then it was time for the show.

After a few hours people moved their cars to the showfield and the total turnout
was great. Some Swedes complained that there weren't many cars there, but for
us Finns it was quite enough and there sure was lots and lots of things to photograph...
Too bad I had only one roll of film.

Another suprise was that there were 2 Gremlins present. This one showed up
a bit late, but was in time for the show. A very nice looking car with an interesting
stripe-kit. I like it very much. Here's
an interior shot of the car.

Next inline were the Javelins and there were many. First the later models from
left to right can see the green/white '71 Javelin AMX 360 (click
here for a rear shot), Kari's '71 Javelin AMX 401 (click
here for a pic of the engineroom), then an interesting '73-'74 Javelin with
a mopar 440 sixpack engine. There was also the afore mentioned rare six cylinder
Javelin (pics later on).

After the later Javelins there was a '70 Javelin SST, a real
street-machine with lots of crome and other personal touches. Mean looking
car indeed. The car had a hand-made
interior which divided a few opinions, but I sure liked it, not everyone
likes woodpanels. This Javelin was also equipped with a very nice soundsystem
and since the owner spoke Finnish without difficulties we got more information
out of this car than most of the others. Hopefully this guy moves back to Finland
sometime soon with his car =).

Next in line were the Pacers and yes there were 2 of them present. I had never
seen a Pacer before in my life, and it was quite interesting to see 2 to compare.
A very different and special car, not like any other AMC ever produced. Some
say it's beautifully cute and some dislike it, whichever it sure turns heads.

In the above picture you can see the car that won the most awards in the show,
it was just like it rolled out of the factory yesterday. Here's
an interior pic.

After the Pacers came the 2 Matadors from were from Norway. It was an interesting
coincidence that all (2) Matadors came from Norway, and all (2) Rebels came
from Finland. =)

Next in line was the only Hornet there. Not many people approved of it's look,
since the exterior was quite rusty and basically it wouldn't pass inspection
in Finland, but then again, the engineroom was fully packed with a 343cid HIPO
engine from an AMX. The engine was powered up with Torker intake, 750cfm doublepumper,
etc. Hopefully the owner finds the time to fixup the car's exterior as well.

From the same family as the Hornet was this nice looking flake-painted '71
Javelin. It had a 232cid, from what I could gather that had originally been
in the aforementioned Hornet. This car was the opposite of the Hornet. The exterior
was shiny and very nice looking, while the engine room perhaps lacked the power
from the Hornet. I, along with Kari Kokkola really liked the idea of keeping
the car with a six, since not many people consider the sixes possibilities and
just slam in a V8.. but then again, there are always two sides to every coin.
Nice car anyway. Here's another
picture of both of Almkrona's cars there (by J.Lindersson).

As continued to the other side of the field, next inline was a car that would
be very rare in Finland, but from what I hear there are a couple of them in
Sweden, a '72 Ambassador DPL Wagon.
Also in this picture you can see the mean looking blood-red
'69 Javelin, Juha's Rebel, and a '67(?) Rogue 2D HT. I had never seen a
later bodied hardtop American, but this one sure did look cool.

Here's another picture of Juha's Rebel , the Rogue and also in this one you
can see the RWB Javelin. Missing from the showfield was Markku Lehto's '67 Rebel
Cross-Country.

There was lots to see and even more to photograph and I'm quite sure that next
year I won't run out of film like this year. Soon after this there was the raffle
with different prices, a soccer game for the kids and other activities. Then
it was time to lineup for the cruising.

The cruising was organized nicely and we drove around the lovely countryside
for a while first and then headed off to a site which suprised us Finns. A castle.

Here are all of us AMCers gathered for the information moment about the castle,
I wish all parking lots had cars like this one. (and people like this one).
We looked around for a while and after a couple hours (and another visit to
Arboga) we returned to Herrfallet.

The following night was nicely organized (though still lacking sauna) and there
was time to barbaque sausages, drink beverages and get to know the Swedes and
the Norwegians. During these talks Kari Kokkola had the idea of organizing a
joint Euromeet in Åland (Ahvenanmaa) sometime 2003-2004. Let's see how
it turns out. After bettering the world for a while by the beach, attention
turned to the bar-complex by the reception where everyone was invited to sit
down, relax, check out some photoalbums brought by everyone and listen to good'ol'rock'n'roll.
Nice event all together. But soon it was late-night/early-morning and it was
time to go to bed.

Next morning there was nothing in the schedule and very early in the morning
(it seemed) people had already cleaned up their cabins and cottages, returned
keys and left. So around mid-day we also woke up and checked the Herrfallet
cabins for a last time, said goodbyes to old and new friends and started cleaning
up the cabin. We didn't make a mess but it was still annoying to make beds /
vacuum ON A HOLIDAY. Hopefully the Swedish figure this one out soon.. =)

After a couple hours we returned the keys and headed first to Arboga and then
back the way we came. We had talked with the Almkronas at Herrfallet that we'd
meet up along the way and go to their place (some 70kilometers north of Stockholm)
and so we did. Along the way there we also stopped for a hamburger and a slight
break. At a gas-station north of Stockholm we met up with the Hornet and followed
it for about an hour and finally arrived at their farm. Nice place alltogether
but we were in a hurry to catch the ferry back home so fast talk and fast deals
was the game. I bought all the parts I needed, loaded them in the very roomy
trunk of the Rebel and we took a quick look around Almkrona's place. In addition
to the Hornet and Javelin he also owned another Javelin, Pacer and an Ambassador,
if I remember correctly. Quite a nice collection! But there was no more time
to spend, we said our thanks and took to the road again.

In about an hour we were at the Stockholm docks and met up with Kari and his
wife again. Just in time we drove to the ship and started the way home. Next
morning we were in Turku and it was time to say goodbye again. Now when I think
about it this was propably the best trip I made that summer, not saying that
any of the others were bad, but in this one I was the turist and I didn't have
much else to do than to admire the cars. I guess it was a nice change, but then
again.. I'm looking forward to summer 2001 AMCCF Cruising & Campings to
improve them on what we learned in Sweden. One thing's for sure though, next
year I'm driving my car to Sweden! =)